Heartbreaking reason quaint beauty spot named ‘friendliest town’ in US is being shunned by hikers this year

A quaint Northern California town that had become a must-see for thousands of hikers following the scenic Pacific Crest Trail has suddenly been ignored.

It looks like Etna in Siskiyou County is off the bucket list for California’s brave hikers this season.

The reason: Nearby wildfires are forcing hikers to rethink and reroute their routes.

Backpackers often stopped in Etna, which had the reputation of ‘the friendliest town on the route’.

The town was the perfect place to spend a night while hiking through the Klamath National Forest.

Every year, around 6,000 hikers pass through the small town, which has just over 1,000 inhabitants.

But the Shelly Fire, which began in early July and has burned more than 15,460 acres so far, has left the small community in turmoil for the third year in a row. As of Friday, 18 percent of the blaze was contained.

For seasoned hikers completing the entire 4,265-kilometer trek from Mexico to California, Etna is the ideal place to catch their breath and relax before tackling the massive trail again.

Nestled beneath a pine forest in the Marble Mountain Wilderness, this city was once considered one of the best in the country and described as a “ranch town in a time machine,” Yellowstone “but without the traffic.”

While Etna’s residents are more than content with their rural seclusion, over the years the community has become increasingly dependent on seasonal visitors.

On Etna there are a number of shops and places to stay overnight. There are also several guesthouses for weary travellers.

However, last week Etna was ordered to evacuate or prepare to leave as a forest fire approached.

This means that anyone considering hiking the PCT will now choose a different route and skip Etna altogether.

Some have decided to move on to Mount Shasta City, some 70 miles (112 kilometers) away, where there are more resources, while others simply skip the area and head to the neighboring state of Oregon.

Although few hikers visited Etna this year, the town has seen an unexpected increase in another group of customers: firefighters.

Nearly 4,000 people are working to contain the Shelly Fire. Emergency workers come from as far away as Maine. Many end up in center of Etna.

“We’re seeing a little bit of an uptick in business from all these firefighters who are working so hard to save our little town,” Brandy Hudson, co-owner of the burger and fries shop Dotty’s, told SF port.

“They have a fire camp set up two miles away, and even though they have a mobile kitchen and caterers, sometimes they get tired of the food,” Hudson explained. “And everyone knows Dotty’s has the best ice cream in the valley.”

Despite the presence of heroic visitors, the absence of hikers has changed the overall feel of the town, which was a regular draw for hikers along the Pacific Crest Trail.

“There is no silver lining,” said Meg Pick, owner of Etna Creek Outfitters.

“Hikers have told us Etna is the friendliest town on the trail. We miss the hikers and the cultural infusion that Etna brings,” said Craig Thompson, owner of the Bluebird Inn.

“They support the economy, but there’s that human element. We miss the friends we haven’t met yet.”

The Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA) proposed creating a smarter system that would directly inform hikers of potential closures along the trail. Now, an app has finally been developed.

This way, hikers do not avoid the area, while it is actually still open to the outside world.

‘On June 25, we built this app “I developed it myself and presented it to the world,” said Jack Haskel, PCTA’s trail information manager. “The next day I had to update it with fire news after fire news.”

Still, it appears that California’s wildfire season is in full swing, with several large blazes already burning across the Golden State.

A lightning strike caused several fires in early June, after the state had had two wet winters in a row and was therefore no longer suffering from drought. However, a lot of grass did grow, which has now dried out.

The Vista fire in the San Bernardino National Forest and the White fire in the Tehachapi Mountains have also closed a number of hiking trails in Southern California.

In Northern California, the Shelly Fire is the biggest threat in the area. Two weeks after it started, it is still less than 20 percent contained.

Etna has been on high alert for most of July, despite the volcano having “become accustomed to these big fires”.

Firefighters are doing their utmost to prevent the flames from spreading eastwards towards the city centre. However, there is always an element of tension in the air, as much depends on the weather conditions, particularly wind and rain.

“That’s the strange thing about a wildfire. You have to wait a long time,” Thompson added.

“There are certain catastrophic fires that move quickly, but the fire we’re seeing now is growing slowly. There’s just an eeriness of waiting.”